Now granted, it you’ve ever read our celebrity or red carpet posts on the lady, you might not be surprised to hear it, but we’re specifically thinking about her character in last year’s American Horror Story: Asylum. Year-old spoilers forthcoming: Remember when she got mutilated and had her legs amputated and was found by traumatized children in a schoolyard? That was, for us, one of the more horrifying fates and images the show’s ever depicted. Now imagine if that had occurred in the middle of a string of scenes where people got mutilated but kept literally piecing themselves together. Imagine if a whole bunch of mutilations of main characters had occurred and in each instance, they all got better. Imagine if, by the third or fourth time this happened in the story, the writers simply gave up on offering explanations as to why and the viewer was forced to accept a reality where horrifying mutilations are only temporary states, like having a head cold. That scene in the schoolyard wouldn’t have been remotely horrifying if that were the case, would it?

When previously dead Queenie showed up for Nan’s funeral trailing previously decapitated Delphine with an explanation no more detailed than “Magic, bitches,” we checked out. This is terrible writing. There are no consequences and no explanations; just a series of vignettes that seem only marginally connected to each other. And yes, this is a world where magic exists, but any fantasy or speculative fiction writer worth her weight will tell you that an imaginary world needs to be built and explained for the reader to buy into it. If any character can accomplish anything at any time, based only on the whims of the writers, then what’s the point? We don’t care who the Supreme is. We don’t even know, after all this time, WHAT the Supreme is, because the various powers and power levels of the witches all change from scene to scene and virtually every witch character has displayed powers on par with Fiona’s at least once.

Don’t even get us started on the ancient brotherhood of witch hunters, an organization so vast and powerful that one dead guy with an axe could take it all down in a 3-minute scene. Or how we went from Delphine weeping over Civil Rights footage to Delphine gleefully murdering a black man. Or why we needed yet another extended flashback of her torturing a black person. It’s not like we haven’t seen the imagery plenty of times already in the story. And you really don’t want to get us started on the 200-year old Voodoo queen who can shrug off a knife through the chest but gets knocked unconscious with one blow.

The story and the characters are whatever the creative team wants them to be from moment to moment and they seem to think that A+ actresses doing good work is a substitute for writing. It’s not. We’ve enjoyed the camp and the cast, but if we were the types to give out letter grades, this episode – and the season overall, in fact – would get a big, fat F.

i just cant. when queenie walked up like YEAH I CAME BACK FROM THE DEAD, WHAT IS UP??? i had to change the channel

Shawn EH

I can buy that her gut injury wasn’t fatal; the head injury she transferred completely to Hank, whose head blowed up real good! Now, if he walks back into Cordelia’s bedroom as anything other than a ghost …

marlie

Even then… all of these ghosts are apparently corporeal, so it’s almost like bringing them back to life; they just can’t leave the house.

boweryboy

Axeman left the house, got a job, has an apartment, and is boinking Fiona. Amusingly enough this is the one thing about the show my partner hates the most.

Shawn EH

He got out, but that was after decades and he had to make a special deal with the baby witches for it to work at all. The one rule they have is about that ghosts being stuck thing. I agree with you partner, though, Axeman sucks!

Eric Stott

I like the actor, I like the character, but it’s as if he walked in from a completely different story. When he’s on screen the plot just drops, clutches its chest and DIES.

Sobaika

I think I’m done with The Racist Psychopath Magical Hour of Torture Porn. And to think there was a time I wondered about Ryan Murphy’s ability to take on such a charged storyline. There’s nothing to wonder about – he simply can’t.

ovarB

When “they” went there again it was like “we can’t think of anything else to throw at you at this point so we will go from the top and show you the same thing.”

Alex Palmer

Ryan Murphy has Tarantino levels of “It’s okay! Black people like me! I’m allowed” writing for black characters. Only he has the inability to construct a consistent story-line. Seriously, this show is like Glee with butts and magic. I’m so ready for this season to end.

zenobar

“Glee with butts and magic” is my Phrase of the Day.

ovarB

And the first song they sing is “Do you believe in Magic?!!!”

JosephLamour

Pretty much my exact sentiment.

ovarB

“The Help” called and would like their storyline of making shit into food and feeding it to the “Master” back.

Eric Stott

That was definitely a cliche, but having Myrtle gushing over the flavor was amusing.

MilaXX

I agree, but Tarantino can reign it in enough to tell a cohesive tale, Murphy gets to caught up in upping the level of shock value.

muzan-e

At this point, I’m not certain that Murphy has a story. The mess this has devolved into absolutely reeks of a writer who’s tapping the dregs of what little material he had to begin with and losing control even of that. Fearing it’s all become noticeable, he flails in every possible direction, substituting movement for substance.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/divine_aphasia/ Constant Cat

Butts and Magic – hipster band name o’ the future. So good.

SpillinTea

And by Black people liking him, he means Nene Leakes. The rest of us are like “this bitch…he tried it AGAIN!”

RectPropagation

What’s interesting about that is that LaLaurie is the best example of “My best friend is black!” being a BS defense to accusations of racism. It’s probably the only decent thing the show has managed to say about race and it was probably an accident.

ovarB

A show has never pissed me off so much as this episode. It seems the only people buying this shit are the ones writing it.

SeppiChicago

I just don’t get why we need to continue to indulge in “eviscerating a subservient black man” on this show. I know Ryan Murphy wants us to squirm but what happens when we just become bored?

Sobaika

Because it’s SHOCKING and PROVOCATIVE and it’ll make up appreciate the times when Angela Bassett gets to call men in suits the white devil.

Eric Stott

Bored is right – and I thought it was established that Delphine had some imagination in her tortures. If she’s going to do something disgusting at least it should be interesting.

CB

I get that they are drawing it out for the sake of suspense, but I feel like they could have rounded up the girls about 6 weeks ago to attempt the Seven Wonders if they really cared about finding out who the next Supreme is.

Glam Dixie

A-fucking-men!

Amber J

I would just like to know what the Seven Wonders actually ARE.

Louise Bryan

Since the writers are making it up as they go along, they probably waited until everyone was on set to finally decide.

I’ve only ever watched Glee, but every Ryan Murphy show I’ve read about seems to follow this same trajectory. Given these criticisms, should he be restricting himself to miniseries, where the story doesn’t have to be sustained for more than a few eps? Or should networks just stop giving him shows to f-up?

ampg

I don’t watch this show, but when I heard about the format I thought it would be right up his alley, because he would get to start over with a new plot and set of characters every season. But apparently that doesn’t matter. And it will continue to not matter, because this season’s ratings are the highest yet for this show.

Marco

The worst thing, is that AHS IS a series of miniseries, each season completely different from the precedent. But apparently, that doesn’t stop him from fucking up EVERY single show of his come the third season.

Eric Stott

Madison must die. Again. Permanently.

notterriblybitter

I’ll watch it until the end although at this point it pretty much of a hate watch. My prediction is that Hank’s father and possibly some of the other witch hunters don’t stay dead. No one else on this show stays dead. Why should they? Hank’s father could have made his own deal with the devil. I assume he and his sidekick had their own “You know they’re going to try to kill us.” “I’m counting on it.” conversation. Or maybe they’re just really, really stupid and didn’t take any precautions before dealing with a couple of really powerful witches who hang out with a murderous, axe-wielding ghost and then we get two more episodes of witches murdering each other while Fiona tries to figure out where Delphine buried Marie and Spaulding coos to his living doll.

BayTampaBay

“a couple of really powerful witches who hang out with a murderous, axe-wielding ghost”, what a concept for a story! Hopefully some great writer will pick up this concept and write for it!

FoxInSocks

I tried really hard, but I checked out of this season a few weeks ago. I’d call it terrible writing, but, really, terrible things would be embarrassed to be associated with this mess.

BayTampaBay

I think the Voodoo Queen is 300 years old.

RectPropagation

I’m fairly certain I heard her say that too.

Chevalle

It really is godawful writing. All of the character growth and development (what LITTLE we had) like Fiona becoming resolute in her desire to protect them, like Delphine changing her perspective, like Cordelia becoming thick-skinned and jaded. All. Fucking. Gone. And for what? This compilation of haphazardly written and edited scenes? How do any of them think this is QUALITY television? QUALITY story? QUALITY characters? And they can’t even argue that that isn’t the point because this season has fallen SO far compared to the others. American Horror Story has always been a one-way ticket to Crazyville, but it always gave you something to think about on the way. I’d rather contemplate constipation than this.

Michael Podell

omg calm down you guys – that was some serious vitriol! who gives a shit if it makes sense or not, did you NOT see Francis Conroy’s outfit!?

acevedob

Agreed

http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo

There wasn’t the slightest bit of vitriol.

Michael Podell

I’m right with you guys about the show not being very well written, but I’ve sort of always found that to be the case with AHS. To say that, “There are no consequences and no explanations; just a series of vignettes that seem only marginally connected to each other” is going pretty far… maybe not quite vitriol territory to be fair to you two, but there is definitely at least a (pretty weak) plot involved. Really though – Frances Conroy’s outfit! With the bow! How could you not love that scene with the theramin and the jeweled ant or whatever?! And Kathy Bates in Misery 2: Back to New Orleans!? C’maaaan!

Michael Podell

Also just had a small scale freak out that you guys responded to something I posted, I’m a huge fan and have been reading TLo almost every day for years!

boweryboy

Rude.

Eric Stott

Conroy’s outfit was great – the whole show LOOKS great, but that’s it. It’s a gilded turd.

another_laura

Gilded Turd – now THAT’s the name for a band….

Tracey Magyar

I sadly gave up on the show last week. I still watched this week…but switched between AHS and a show on TLC where some woman liked to chew on baby diapers soaked in urine. The TLC show was scarier. Even Francis Conroy’s outfits could not save it this week.

boweryboy

Admittedly, her outfits were pretty fierce this episode. That polka-dot number with the yellow gloves? To die.

Denis

Boring, unwatchable episode… wasted actresses… no story… blah.

acevedob

Guys, catch your breath and listen up.

Yes, most fantasy/supernatural/witchy shows and books properly set up a world. Characters with powers are created. Usually, these powers have limits and they have consequences. They can backfire and they may be taken away. BUT, have you ever though that Coven’s world, has no rules? Or, that for certain magical beings, death is non-existent? After all, Coven’s world is not the only one where dead characters have come back to life (Supernatural, Charmed, etc).

Now, I do agree with you on three things. First, the whole witch hunter thing was brought up and never followed through with. They shouldn’t have mentioned it at all. Second, why wasn’t the whole Seven Wonders thing not brought in earlier? THAT would have made a better idea to follow through on. Third, it is sickening to see the images of Black folks getting tortured and maimed.

Overall, though, I would not give this season an F. At least they tried to bring up so interesting ideas, they weren’t always followed through with. AND Myrtle Snow would keep any show from getting an F in my book.

C+ (for effort, acting, location and Myrtle Snow)

http://foodycat.blogspot.co.uk/ foodycatAlicia

“Catch your breath and listen up” reads a bit patronising.

http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo

A BIT?!? I don’t think he could have been more condescending if they were holding a contest for it.

acevedob

Sorry! I didn’t mean that at all. Although I can be a patronizing bastard in real life, I certainly didn’t mean it in this instance.

Eric Stott

SNAP!

Amanda Miller

I always wonder what people do when TLo shuts them down. Do they die of shame or just spend the next week crying?

http://www.tomandlorenzo.com/ Tom and Lorenzo

We hope neither. He was very good about apologizing and we accept it. Just some queens snarking back and forth, is all.

acevedob

Thanks TLo. I will forever bow to any snarking you have to offer. Love, A VERY Bitter Kitten. (also, see the above comment).

acevedob

Why did I just see this? Answer: I didn’t cry or die of shame. I just wanted to clear the air. I can take the heat. You would know that if you knew who I was married to! (He’s the pleasantly nice guy on the right hand side of my profile pic who likes to quickly call me out if I’m being a prick!) 😉

boweryboy

The writing is what’s killing the show for me. I could buy everything the show is selling if there was solid writing, character development, and a discernible story arc.
Even my partner, who doesn’t read recaps or blogs about the show, turned to me last night and said, “I feel like the story hasn’t started yet.”
I’ll give the actors an A+ for effort, but the season overall a D+. I’m in it for the long haul, so for that alone it gets bumped up from an F. This season was a wasted opportunity.

acevedob

I’m also in it ’til the end. As I said above, I would have liked to see some ideas fleshed out more than others. Nevertheless, I can see what he’s trying to do with this season. I like it.

boweryboy

I can see what he’s trying to do too. That’s what’s so frustrating – the wasted opportunity.

MilaXX

See I’d give a newbie credit for trying but Ryan Murphy has been in the game far too long to get credit for trying. I might not give the season an F, but it’s a D from me ad that’s mostly based on the actors trying their all with crap writing.

SpillinTea

Exactly. This show is a flat F…with an Angela Bassett/Frances Conroy/Jessica Lange extra credit book report pushing it to a D-.

muzan-e

I could buy fluctuating laws of magic and ability and a state of complete chaos, IF the characters themselves had made any mention of it – and if they hadn’t cited certain rules already. Heck, I love the idea: an order of witch-hunters who are opposed to the presence of witches because they are innately chaotic creatures whose powers are permanently in flux, to the point that their very existence – let alone a whole coven of ’em – promotes anarchy,

I’d watch the heck out of that.

And now we’ve written a synopsis that makes more sense than this season’s does. Aurgh.

RectPropagation

BUT, have you ever though that Coven’s world, has no rules?

There have to be rules, even if the rule is “this group over here can’t die” or “it’s actually very easy to raise the dead”. You can’t have a rule be “Resurrection is rare/difficult” and then have everyone doing it by the end of the season. You can’t just be all, “It’s magic, I don’t have to explain it.”.
I’d also even accept muzan-e’s idea of the rule being “everything is completely random” but that’s clearly not what’s happening in the show.

In fact, I’d even be OK with the rules being broken if the characters reacted to it as if a rule was being broken. Their powers going nuts could have been a plot point but instead the show treats it as if the previously stated/implied rule never existed.

acevedob

Hm..good point. No good follow-through. Touché.

AnotherG

Actually, I think acevedob is on to something. I have to catch last week’s episode, but I wonder if what we’re watching is a vicious doll house made “real.” Even T-Lo commented on how the story was basically treating the actresses like dolls. There’s a batshit butler who has teaparties with dolls, for heaven’s sake. In (this?) episode, he takes a baby as a “living doll.” Even the house itself . . . well, it’s insane. It’s a featureless white expanse where you can’t tell where walls and floors begin and where, or even if, there’s furniture. There’s only visible furniture and details to it for when the dolls are interacting with it. If you frame the series as a dollhouse horror show, things make a little more sense.

Remember what the “rules” were when you played with dolls (if you did)? They change at a whim. Death is not permanent. In fits of pique, children have been known to pull the heads off dolls, a la Madame Lalurie. But that’s not the end of playtime, even for the decapitated doll.

There’s backbiting. There’s making up. There’s jealousy. (Oh, there’s also fun.) There’s the full range of ID and wounded feelings for when dolls are proxies for what a child is experiencing, and there’s also that mercurial, or even non-exist, sense of consequence because it’s play, and at the same time, the cruelty can be fierce and break you down.

Now take those anxieties, add to them the ones we overlay on adolescents (sexuality, strangers, pecking orders), and those of adults (race, mortality, being unloved) and filter them through a doll house. Pretend you’re back at dollhouse playing age, but know what you know now about the world, and the only way you can deal with those anxieties is through playtime. You’d get something like this show. It would also go a long way to explaining the heavy-handedness with which he treats these subjects.

The real stand-in for Ryan Murphy is the skeevy butler. Which is perhaps the creepiest aspect.

Joe J

Dear Ryan Murphy,

Hire a nerd. Several nerds. The stereotypical kind that have seen every episode of “Star Trek” and “Battlestar Galactica” twenty times over, who can point out where the starfleet insignia on Red Shirt #6’s uniform goes from having a black outline to a white one in the next camera shot. They will be more than happy to pick apart every inconsistency you’ve shown this season, although it may be years before they finish explaining them all to you.

Barring that, hire Helen Keller because at this point even she could point out the gaping holes in your plotting and characterization.

Glam Dixie

I’ve become really fond of the ff button on my dvr the last couple of episodes. Pretty soon, it’s gonna be the delete button.

boweryboy

Hey, could someone tell me the name of that jewelry designer Myrtle mentioned? She sounds vaguley familar to me.

This episode was shit. I almost didn’t watch it. No amount of blood and gore (and there was copious amounts this episode) can overshadow the lack of plot. I don’t even care anymore.

Bored with the Fiona/Axeman story. Bored with the love triangle. Bored with LaLaurie/Laveau. Bored with the next Supreme/Seven wonders. I don’t even care what’s going to happen to the baby (where did it come from)? And I’m absolutely fed up that none of the witches can die. Ever.

If that’s the case, then how did the witch hunters manage to kill any witches at all? And if Spalding’s ghost is trapped in the attic then wouldn’t the ghost of the gardener LaLaurie murdered be trapped up there too?

Feh. This show. I made it this far so I’m sticking it out until the end. Sometimes I’m a glutton for punishment like that.

BayTampaBay

Well yes a witch did die…my favorite witch……Nan!

marlie

She only died last week. Who’s to say she doesn’t show up next week or the week after?

Eric Stott

wearing a FABULOUS outfit

boweryboy

She’s dead for now. So far, every witch that has died has been brought back to life.

Luneowl

I don’t understand why the baby is still there when Laveau kidnapped it expressly to pay her immortality tithe. They didn’t need to sacrifice Nan. Maybe I’m missing some plot point from that episode that explains this but I can’t bring myself to go back and watch it again.

boweryboy

Maybe because they sacrificed Nan, Laveau got to keep the baby?

Luneowl

That’s true. I forgot about the scenes where she’s pining for her lost child. Though she certainly seems to have forgotten that the baby exists now.

ovarB

Because killing Nan and offering her as a innocent soul helped “kill two birds with one stone.” They could pay Legba his soul and get rid of Nan.

Luneowl

Yeah, I guess the baby is just a story LEGO, a piece to fit into the Papa Legba backstory and now a plaything for Ghost Butler. This story reads like sloppy AHS fan fiction with plot contrivances instead of characters to care about.

muzan-e

The designer: Joel Arthur Rosenthal. I feel a little guilty for knowing him more for his perfume, than the jewelry which made him famous!

boweryboy

Thanks!

Shawn EH

In the case of Coven, I don’t think it’s about the rules. The rules in speculative fiction can be clear as day, and the story still awful. The lack of limits and the good acting aren’t at the center of the story: the struggle for power, dominance, longevity, and happiness are. While I’m not always sure how certain things happened, I’m generally keen on why: because all these witches have competing agendas, and only some of them are going to get what they want.

MilaXX

Yup, this is a crappy season even if I grade on a curve because it’s Ryam Murphy writing this. It’s torture porn pure and simple. Even worse are the vaguely racial undertones. It’s getting a bit insulting to have these scenes seemingly for shiggles. It’s also a tremendous waste of talent for all the actors involved.

marlie

“Shiggles.” I’m going to have to use that one. 😉

MilaXX

shiggles = shits & giggles

marlie

I know. I just think it’s one of the funnier portmanteaus I’ve seen in a while.

tallgirl1204

So, I don’t watch this show, but that photograph of Kathy Bates is AMAZING. There’s a whole character in that one moment– face, hands, body. I would be terrified if she looked at me.

https://www.facebook.com/NORNCUTSONART Norn Cutson

THAT is the THING with this show: its ALL in the IMAGERY, zero in the WRITING.

marlie

My mistake was trying to rationalize or justify any of it while I was watching last night. Eventually I gave up.

The only thing worth watching last night was Frances Conroy.

jjtxgrrl

Or for the last 4-5 episodes for that matter!!

Inspector_Gidget

I let it record last night and haven’t gotten around to watching yet. And I’m here to read spoilers beforehand, because I think I’ll enjoy it more. Guess that says it all about where I’m at with this season. The fun, campy performances aren’t enough to carry it anymore.

Shawn EH

I read the spoilers so I’ll be prepared for all the gore!

Daktari100

A gripe I’ve been having with the show since the last couple of episodes is the overuse of the word “coven.” Coven is the subtitle for the whole season, and last night’s episode was titled “Protect the Coven.” What coven? The number of members could be counted on two hands, and those don’t even seem to like each other. All the characters got so mean, so ruthless, and will turn on each other–even kill each other–to get what they want. So why is it important to protect the coven? If there is a reason, I’d like to have it defined in the story. It has become just a lot of unlikeable people doing dispicable things to each other, and it’s getting old.

RectPropagation

The only reason they’ve said in the show is that the number of witches has been declining and they have to protect the coven to prevent themselves from dying out. The unspoken reason at this point seems to be that there’s no point in being the Supreme if there are no weaker witches by comparison.

Luneowl

I can’t believe this particular season was nominated for a Golden Globe in the category of Best TV series. Maybe it was nominated on the strength of its first few episodes when it seemed there was still some hope that the story would become fun and cohesive.

Sobaika

I think it is considered a Mini-series at the Globes. If it were under the usual television series category there’s no way it would eek out a nomination.

http://twitter.com/#!/Space_Kitty Space Kitty

Apologies for the derail, but you’ve just clarified for me what’s wrong with the current Doctor Who. Thank you.

kittentoes

Sadly, this is not wrong.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/divine_aphasia/ Constant Cat

Damn. I just started watching this show for this first time, this past December. I absolutely loved season 1, which was very complicated, but kept going through a carefully built world that made sense, had rules, and horror tropes that were fun to pick out. Many of the crazy threads were mostly resolved at the end. Loved it. Season 2 was so very watchable – especially Quinto and Paulson’s scenes together! I felt the energy kind of died off just a bit at the end, and there were definitely some turns that felt weird/unearned (Alma doing anything ((and the whole axe thing?? Whaaa???)), the mistaken ‘black angel lookalike’ roommate throwaway plot), it still wound up mostly resolved. Some of the elements felt more convoluted than season 1, but I think it was because they were operating on a bigger scale: a nightmare ‘house’ much bigger than the Murder House, with more characters to keep track of. Still, Anne Frank and Santa were awesome additions, and the acting (Lange, Quinto, Paulson) were so so fab. Liked very much. So, now…Erm. I’m starting to think season 3 isn’t worth watching. Which is saddening/maddening! I think I’ll still tune in after it’s all out, but it seems/sounds like some of the rail-jumping in season 2 and the lesser confusing elements in season 1 that they had previously managed to pull off didn’t work this time around. Damn.

Ramon Figueroa

“Your mother is Pol Pot in Givenchy” almost makes up for the crappy writing. Almost. And learning about Joel Arthur Rosenthal was great. Don’t care for his jewelry that much, but he is quite a character.

Claudia

Yep. I’ve tried to defend this seasons a few times, but this was just dire. Laughable. Ridiculous. Boring.

Eric Stott

Only thing I’m faintly curious about is – just what will Delphine do with Marie while she’s unconscious?

http://www.lifeinspice.com/ rose88

To the extent I can watch the show as a series of pitch black comedy vignettes I still find it a (mostly) fun show to watch . But it lost the narrative long ago and there’s just no coherency to the plot whatsoever or any characters to root for. The only thing they can do to redeem the season at all is to show that they’re in on the joke and have Diana Ross show up as the next Supreme.

SockMonkies

“The only thing they can do to redeem the season at all is to show that they’re in on the joke and have Diana Ross show up as the next Supreme.”

LOL Brilliant!

Michelle Wilson

It’s time to talk in earnest about negotiating the release of these fine actors from this dreadful show.

John11581

My sister and I expressed the exact same opinion during our weekly dissection of the show. I find that I really don’t give a crap about the fates of any of these characters because I’ve seen them perish in horrible ways only to come back time and again so that any emotional connection I could have towards them has been lost. I’d actually be shocked at this point to have one of characters die and stay the hell dead (I’m looking at you Ms. Lupone.). Granted, the scenery chewing was great for the first few episodes, and was a heck of a lot of fun to watch, but it doesn’t add up to much when the writers substitute plot with all of these ridiculous bells and whistles. I have no idea where this story is going, and with the lack of continuity from week to week, at this point I don’t even care. I’m just sticking it out without any hope that the end game will be worth it. I’m still planning on giving the previous 2 seasons a chance once this one has ended based on word of mouth from so many people (you guys included), but I’ve yet to be satisfied with any story Ryan Murphy tells, which is why I had to stop watching Glee mid way through the third season. I can only hate watch for so long before it just turns into plain old hate. The AHS bitches are great, but it’s criminal how the writers can’t think up anything better to do with them. And don’t even get me started on Stevie Nicks. She’s been my favorite goddess since I was 3, and the way they just stuck her into the story last week left me gutted.

Sam

This season is terrible. Asylum was incredible, Murder House was great. It’s almost unbelievable that the same people that were capable of writing those seasons wrote Coven.

Louise Bryan

“We’ve enjoyed the camp and the cast, but if we were the types to give out letter grades, this episode – and the season overall, in fact – would get a big, fat F.”

Actually, I think that should be a T (for troll).

jjtxgrrl

This show with all its wonderful actors and such a possibly wonderful theme COULD have been amaaazing. I remember how excited I was…..

But its really just a big hot mess now. Doesnt make any sense….completely irrational writing. Geeze. So dissapointing!!

andreawey

I don’t even give a shit anymore! I kept imagining a round table of writers just taking turns writing shit without seeing what anyone else was writing and then mushing it all together, or maybe they were all high….. Hey, I know, how about Kyle and Zoe take a trip to Disney World, that would be hilarious! Unbelievable….. I’ve watched some stupid shit in my day but…..

Daktari100

This episode may not have been the best, but the line, “Flush my shit, Bitch” somehow made it all worthwhile. I’m pretty sure that’s something I never heard on television before, or anywhere really.

Matthew Vella

Enough with the black people being tortured. I’m surprised I haven’t seen much of a reaction in that regard.

Also, aren’t they sort of obliged to bring back Nan now?

RectPropagation

Well, they apparently weren’t obligated to find Queenie so they could bring her back so I don’t think we’re going to see anyone try to bring Nan back either. Even the characters are bored with the resurrection thing.

The fact that they’re still showing scenes of black men getting tortured at this point means that they think we’re supposed to find them entertaining, which is disgusting. There is literally no reason for them to be there.

SockMonkies

Someone said exactly what I was thinking before, “It feels like the show hasn’t started yet.” It’s a mess of strained writing and every time it seems to get its foot planted on a solid idea (By NOW I think we should know who the next Supreme is..geez)..it slips and starts over leaving viewers confused. As a huge fan of Season 1 but more so Season 2, I think Coven has definitely fallen short. I’ll watch till the end but I don’t think I’ll be happy! And just to get it off my chest, Jesse Pinkman is the only person who can pull off saying ‘bitch’ that many times and still make it appealing. Madison is just becoming tiring to watch.

RectPropagation

“By NOW I think we should know who the next Supreme is..geez”

Remember how in the first 2 seasons the show never left us guessing “I wonder who’s going to turn out to be X”? We found out who the guy in the rubber suit was and we found out who Bloody Face was. It honestly feels like they aren’t telling us who the Supreme is because THEY don’t know who the Supreme is yet.

RectPropagation

I really don’t understand why we’re still seeing black men (for some reason we’ve never seen her attack a black woman) get mutilated. Did we learn anything from that flashback other than LaLaurie likes blood and torture for no damn reason? Did the current day torture do anything other than reiterate the fact that no one in this house is aware of anything anyone else is doing ever?

Seriously, what is this shit? Why is it not weird for the characters to go DAYS without seeing each other? Why does NO ONE know what’s going on? Cordelia’s inability to keep track of her people isn’t even laughable anymore, it’s just stupid, but it’s also stupid that no one knows there’s a freaking baby in that house. Apparently everyone just sits in their own rooms doing nothing until the story decides they’re allowed to talk to each other.

Also: if the point of introducing the witch hunters was some sort of statement on how white & black women should join forces against the patriarchy instead of fighting each other then, again, why does the show keep giving us scenes of a white woman torturing black men? Anyone else notice how it’s always men? Granted, I think the idea that black women should ignore the racism in ‘mainstream’ feminism because men are the bigger threat is offensive on its own, but if that’s what they’re going for they’re undermining it with the mutilation.

Lars Vogel

Ugh, all these haters still watching something they have so much hate for. What in the previous AHS seasons could have led one to expect anything other than senseless plot twist after senseless plot twist, characters incessantly coming back form the dead, and empty, gratuitous shocks and gore? Yes it is just a series of stunning vignettes, so why not just accept that and enjoy the ride? If you really need “great writing” and “character development” and consistent “motivation” turn off the Boob Toob and go support your local Shakespeare company.

RectPropagation

When your defense of a TV show is “I think it’s always been this shitty” you’ve already lost.

Kristy Sheldon

Ya, this is really some nonsense and crap writing, but it beats all of the reality crap on TV right now. I am loyal and will hope for a fantastic ending to this season, but I am cautious.

Redlanta

This is pure Ryan Murphy. He does it with every show he touches. The first season or 2 will blow your mind with the imagination and push boundaries. Then he becomes like the Axeman and just hatchets every character, plot history and rhythm; and flow with crazy ass “see what I can do to freak you out without it making any logical sense?” The actresses are pulling this terrible writing out of the writer’s asses ans putting on a show. But forget any logic, flow, or storyline completion…